Archive for October, 2011

The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) annual conference will be taking place this October 24-28 in Dallas, TX. This is one of the best conferences of the year when it comes to the quality and quantity of the attendees, presenters, workshops, tours and sponsors. I’ve had the opportunity to attend and present at this conference for 5 of the past 6 years, missing only last year’s event in Baltimore.

In addition to providing attendees a brief overview of the certification program, we will be highlighting how organizations, (such as ThedaCare and Halliburton) are using the program as a capability development tool and how colleges and universities are using the program as an outcome assessment tool for their curriculum.

In addition to this overview, there will be a distinguished panel of lean authorities to address questions about the program.

Ted Stiles, Partner and VP Executive Search at Stiles Associates, LLC, recruits lean talent for organizations and will offer his insights into the direction that lean certification is taking in the job market.

Pat Wardwell, Lean Gold Certified (LGC), is the COO of Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership. She will provide her insights on the value of attaining Lean Gold status and discuss the genesis of the program and how it has evolved into the standard for Lean Certification programs. Pat is a past Chairperson for the Lean Certification Oversight and Appeals Committee.

Ron Oslin, Capital One, is the current Chairman of the Lean Certification Oversight and Appeals Committee. Ron will share how Capital One is using the program to build lean competencies in their leadership team and will also provide insights into the exam question development and review process.

Larry Anderson, LGC, is president of ResourceSyncing and a member of the Shingo Prize Board of Examiners. Larry is also a former Chairman of the Lean Certification Oversight and Appeals Committee. Larry will discuss the portfolio process from both the candidate and peer reviewer perspectives.

Kelly Lacroix, Certification Project Specialist, Society of Manufacturing Engineering. Kelly leads the Lean Certification efforts at SME and coordinates the activities of the Lean Certification Oversight and Appeals Committee. She will be available to answer any questions you may have on the administrative aspects of the certification process.

This promises to be a great discussion of the program. If you are at the conference and would like to learn more about the program, please stop by to ask your questions or offer your insights. Committee members will be available throughout the conference to answer your questions and talk about the benefits of the program.

If you have any questions or comments about the program, please comment below.

I will bring your questions to the panel and report back on their answers.